'We won!': Kentucky abortion advocates celebratepublished at 00:09 Greenwich Mean Time 10 November 2022published at 00:09 10 November 2022
Alexandra Ostasiewicz
Reporting from Kentucky
“We won!”
That was Maria's Contretas' reaction after voters in Kentucky decided against removing abortion rights from the state’s constitution.
“I feel like a weight has been lifted from my chest,” said Contreras, who has been volunteering for months to protect abortion access in her state. She was at a watch party in Louisville as the results rolled in.
Originally from Colombia, she has lived in Kentucky for about five years and started volunteering in June after Roe v Wade was overturned by the US Supreme Court.
She had told herself she’d be content with either outcome, but said it wasn’t until she got the good news that she let herself feel how much the win meant to her.
In the days before the election, Contreras brought her mum, Eldima Valero, along to knock on doors and get voters to the polls.
Her mother was also by her side on election night as the pair celebrated the victory.